I've been away from the Forum for over a week due to my
stupidity of allowing suspected hackers pretending to
be from Telstra to remotely access my computer - before
wising up to the scam and hanging up when they asked me
for my banking details. The con artists phoned me
shortly after New Year's offering to help improve the
performance of my computer. But when they asked for
my banking details I finally smelled a rat and hung up
the phone.

They asked me if my computer had been running slowly,
and well it had. A female hacker tricked me into
allowing remote access to my computer. I hate to think
she had access to my files but luckily there's
nothing of any value there. I don't use internet banking.

I want to warn others to be careful and not be sucked into
giving out any personal information. I've been told
that these remote access scammers impersonate well-known
businesses like Telstra, NBN, Microsoft, Energy companies and
steal money and banking information. Even Identity theft.

So folks be careful!

It will end up hurting you badly. Never give an unsolicited caller access to your computer and
under no circumstances offer any personal details over the phone.
Has anybody else experienced anything similar?

If you receive a phone call out of the blue from someone
requesting remote access to your computer - it's a scam.
Just hang up.

The scammers will spin you a very credible
and believable story about why they need
access to your computer. For example they
may tell you that there is a virus on your computer that
needs fixing and they need your help to catch hackers.
I fell for it - don't you.

We already knew about such things, Foxy. Amazed that you didn't.

Foxy thanks
Yes we, some of us know about it, but I prefer to tell it openly and hope some one is helped by it
nasty comments from nasty minds are worthless again thanks

Hi ttbn,

I fell into their trap mainly because we were considering
calling Telstra for an NBN connection. When the call came
through claiming to be from Telstra regarding NBN
- I got sucked in. Plus the woman also told me that my computer
was being hacked and Telstra wanted to insure my computer
security. It was an unfortunate series of events and I accepted
the coincidence and thought it all credible - especially when
in December - I was advised by "Telstra" that NBN was coming
to our street. It was all a series of circumstances that
I just happened to step into.

Dear Belly,

I'm still a bit unnerved - especially as the hackers kept
ringing us even after that experience. Telstra Security
checked the telephone numbers I managed to get off our
phone and told us they were not Telstra phone numbers.
Also I tried ringing some of those numbers and got voice
mail telling me that the numbers "were not connected."

Telstra managed to block all telephone calls from Asia,
the Middle East, South America, and Africa. Now our dial
tone is a long "beep." Hopefully we will not get as many
of these calls any more. Our telephone system has a blocking
capacity for local numbers - which we've already used.

I had to let people from the Philipines into my computer & even though it was through Telstra it was rather un-nerving.
I think Telstra should be hammered for forcing us to hand our computers over to someone in another country. So far all the technicians have been very competent & very polite to converse with but what guarantee is there that non-genuine people infiltrate Telstra ?
Anything to do with setting up an account etc should not happen outside the country. Either train Australians or tell the shareholders to look somewhere else for easy money.
Imagine if ever there is some conflict & these countries can turn off our services at a whim ?
In our part of Australia we have no choice of ISP but if ever another one comes here Telstra would lose %100 of it's customers.

“ I got sucked in.”.

You certainly did, Foxy. That's the name of the game. We hear about this stuff non-stop, but still some people fall for it. You were “considering calling Telstra for an NBN connection” but you didn't, so why would you think you were dealing with with genuine Telstra people? Did you think that they used ESP to know that you were going to call them? Did you not think, “How would this woman making an unsolicited call know that my computer is being hacked”? You say that the call was about NBN, but isn't it possible you thought that because you had your intention to investigate connecting to the NBN in the back of your mind that you imagined that bit? Telcos do not connect you to the NBN. If your want the NBN, you go to your ISP.

The 'your computer has been hacked’ is the standard opening to frighten potential victims. Ask yourself, how could anyone possibly know that?

It seems clear that that all the public warnings, all the advice from telcos, banks and other companies about how they DO NOT contact customers is a waste of time.

I'm glad that you finally smelt a rat before it was too late. But, never, ever give anyone you don't know remote control of your PC. I find it incredible that you did that.

Hi Indy,

You're certainly right. The Telstra Security staff
that we spoke to - all had American accents - and
when I asked where they were from - they said -
the Philippines. I did rather nervous I must admit.
I would have felt much more secure dealing with
locally trained people.

Hi ttbn,

I should have explained things to you more fully.
Again, my fault.
The call from Telstra was not quite an ünsolicited"
call. When the original call came through from Telstra
in December
regarding a NBN connection The woman told me that
she would be ringing us in January and giving us the
dates and times when both workers
from - Telstra and NBN would be in
our street. So I was in a way - expecting her call.
I was set up beautifully. Despite all
the warnings - the scam worked.

My purpose here is to show that even people who are not
usually gullible can fall for something when they least
expect it. As you rightly point out - we should
question things and in future I shall. Once bitten,
twice shy.

Thank you for you comments.

I used to use Telstra. No problems. But I moved to an area where they missed out on putting cables in, and I am now with a small, locally owned outfit. All Australian staff. I'm not sure why anyone would need to have their internet provider manipulate their personal devices. Internet problems are not the fault of the PC? Wouldn't you go to a local IT person if adjustments to the device were needed? Internet problems I deal with by phone. No fiddling with any personal devices.

Hi ttbn,

We do have an IT person that we usually go to.
However, in this case, as I stated - I bought
what appeared to be a credible story - and
fully trusted the lady claiming to be from
Telstra - especially when she said that Telstra
was concerned about the "security breaches"
on my computer that Telstra had picked up.
I believed her and followed her instructions
to the letter over the phone. "Click onto this,"
"Give us the number," "Put in the password,"
and so on. Click here, click there - and then
I was told not to touch anything that a "robot will
get rid of the hackers for you." All this while
they were downloading my files.
Dumb of me? You bet!
Lucky for me - I had nothing of value on file.

Belly Quote "nasty comments from nasty minds are worthless again thanks"

** The following comment is what you are referring too.
Firstly the comment is in no way nasty as you claim.
Secondly you are the one being nasty by calling the person who posted the comment "worthless"

Comment Belly is talking about.
"We already knew about such things, Foxy. Amazed that you didn't."

Since you claim to be on a reporting binge (words slightly modified from your exact words) you need to report yourself.

Foxy,

It can happen to anyone, I recently made a small purchase on the net and only by chance noticed that the purchase had become a recurring payment.
I got clipped for $15, before cancelling it with the bank.
No great damage could have been done as I only keep a maximum of $100 in that account which I have for small purchases only, including the odd visit to McDonald's.

One wonders just how many little scams there are (in terms of the amounts)?
Multiply by a thousand or two and it's a nice 'little' earner.

Wouldn't you go to a local IT person if adjustments to the device were needed?
ttbn,
One would think so but ISP like Telstra give you no choice when you have to reset an account because of a new computer so you can keep your email address. I suppose a Nerd could do it but the average user needs the help with the changed settings.
Telstra cut me off a day early on the last data allowance so it'll be interesting if I only get 27 days again instead of the 28. I have lost so much Data over time because the Telstra signal has gone from very good to very poor & I can't use much of my monthly (28day) allowance.
In a word, it's a pretty poor show.

Is Mise You have a good way of doing it, using an account with only a small amount in it.

When the scammers con someone they also make more money by selling the persons details on to others, that is probably why you are still being contacted Foxy.

It's a good idea to have a 'load and go' Visa card for online purchases and keep a low balance. I think the risks of buying online are greatly exaggerated. However, I think the risk would would ramp up if these people insisting that we have a cashless society are listened to. The more you do with technology, the higher the risk will be.

I use Billpay for regular accounts, but for irregular payments to people and firms I'm not familiar with, I still use cheques. I'm not all that comfortable with card numbers lying about in Timbuktoo. Of course, the 'experts' think cheque books should be phased out too. My financial institution used to send me a new book when my use reached a certain number, but they don't do that anymore. Technology is all very well, but it brings extra burdens and worries with it for us plebs. And some of us ain't what we used to be

Beats me why there are no federal legislations for such vital services to remain in the country.
Telstra is one of the worst offenders.
I bet the bosses don't have their details being handled in the Philipines & India.

http://www.9news.com.au/2019/01/24/08/05/experts-warn-about-sophisticated-telstra-email-scam
Above all else thank you Foxy, for bringing it to our attention and perhaps stopping some one else being caught out

Belly Have you reported yourself yet, or is it that you consider yourself to be elite and don't have to abide by the rules.

In case you missed it
_____________________________________________________________

Belly Quote "nasty comments from nasty minds are worthless again thanks"

** The following comment is what you are referring too.

"We already knew about such things, Foxy. Amazed that you didn't."

Firstly the comment is in no way nasty as you claim.
Secondly you are the one being nasty by calling the person who posted the comment "worthless"

Since you claim to be on a reporting binge (words slightly modified from your exact words) you need to report yourself.

Thanks, Philip. I don't read that person's comments as promised. He isn't worth the trouble. Be careful. He is a dobber who will "report anyone", according to the last post of his that I did look at.

Foxy,
It is amazing that a communications mob like Telstra employ people that cannot communicate. I can arrange flights to anywhere by phoning Qantas but cannot understand Telstra phone persons.

I now just hang up on callers I cannot understand, I is not my job to teach foreigners English.

Foxy sorry, in your absence I REPORTED TTBN
It was done often in the past here and in my view is needed again
Standards have gone down hill, my old mate one under God often posted weird stuff, but is no match for 4 we share this place with
I see and except your continuing to be nice to every one
But too, see you subjected to very real taunting
Many fair and honest, well balanced posters are gone,not all shared my views but they are missed
This place is worth fighting for, welcoming new comers
Refusing to insult every one with a different view
I am ignoring some posters
But say openly if this place is to improve it must see more trash talkers reported

Telephone voices. Companies and governments don't seem to understand that some foreigners, no matter how technically good their English, have accents that simply cannot be understood by English speakers, particularly the elderly and hard of hearing. The must be a lot of business lost by companies who do use foreign call centres. Their fault, their problem. They don't have any respect for their customers or prospective customers.

Good Afternoon Everyone,

Thank You for all your posts. I appreciate
your contributions and advice. I'm still having problems
with my computer. The local IT expert will be coming out
to check on things late this afternoon. There's still a
few gliches remaining that need fixing - it takes
ages for me to access the internet. When I try -
a message comes on
that I don't understand. "401 Authorisation required."
Also - when I first turn on the computer I get a rectangular
picture on the screen with writing in Chinese on it -
I'm getting frustrated by the minute.
Most annoying. The lights on my modem
keep turning red instead of green. And once red - I can't
do anything. As you can see I am not a very computer literate
person. I just like using it.
I'm looking forward to the day
when I'll be able to simply talk to my computer. And it will
reply - preferably in English (not Chinese).

Dear Belly,

Thank You for your concern. You're one of the fairest
and most thoughtful people on this forum.
I look forward to reading your posts.

Being forced to stay away from the forum for these past
few weeks has helped me appreciate the people that make up
this forum. We all have our quirks but basically I feel
that the lot on this forum are well-intentioned and decent
folk. We may not always agree - but how boring would it be
if we agreed all the time.

Foxy, I get 4 or 5 of these "I am from Telstra---" calls a week.
I am trying to get off their call list by making a nuisance of myself.
After the speel, I say "Oh there is a problem with my Windows ?"
Oh yes they say we would like to fix it.
I say OK just a minute, go and make a cup of coffee then after five
minutes, I come back and say "I have been all round the house and I
can't find anything wrong with my windows !"
They then tumble they have been had, but you have to be not a wilting
flower as you will get a lot of swearing and abuse for wasting their time.

Another one I use is if the English is poor, I say I can't understand
you, do you have someone with better English, they then get someone else.
I then let them go through the "windows key & 8 key routine and they
then ask what is on your screen ? I say just some icons. No they
say hold down the window key and press 8.
And so we go around and around the routine.
Sometimes the more switched on will ask what windows are you using ?
I'll say Windows ? I don't use windows, I use Linux because it
"p477es off people like you. Most will ask :whats that ?"

A friend of mine hacks them when they call and gets them talking to
each other and causes havoc in their call centre.
By the way their activity is a little earner on the side when the
call centre is not busy.
I finish by telling them to get a real job.

Another thing to watch for is the spiffing false Telstra bill.
Look down the bottom, if it says "Telstra a division of Bigpond"
it should be the other way around.

Cheers and have fun with them. Although your fix might be inconvenient someday.

Hi Bazz,

Thanks for sharing your experiences.
What you did was very clever.
I'd never have thought to do anything like that.
And hopefully with all the blocks that have
been put on our phone, I won't have to in future.
Also I won't be so trusting either.

Aaaahhh, Foxy I have just read the comments on the Australia Day
thread about your computer adventure.
When you held windows key and pressed 8 I presume they got you to
enter a string like PCANYWHERE, forgotten exactly what it was, but
that is a routine that is properly used when you ask Telstra for assistance.
They will get you to use that routine so they can access your computer
and see what needs changing.
However remember only allow that IF IT WAS YOU WHO CALLED Telstra.
I had reason to allow it once when I had trouble getting my Brother printer to work.
The Brother Tech found the problem with their Linux Driver.
JayB was right you did not need a new drive, just reformatting it
and then reinstalling windows would remove anything they may have planted.

These so & so's are not technically savvy and they just follow a
routine they have in front of them

Foxy, rule 2547, make a bl**dy" backup.

Hi Bazz,

They got me to click onto a "Red box"
(asset access) and give them the number
that came up on the screen. Then they
went through several screens with me - gave
me a password to put in - then I clicked onto
Ï accept" and they told me not to touch my
modem as a robot would get rid of the hackers
for me. I did as I was told while they apparently
downloaded my files.

I know - how stupid was I?

I've now lost trust of anybody with an Ïndian"
accent. Hopefully that will pass.

Well Foxy, if it is any comfort there are thousands of people who
have been caught. Many voice hackers are very clever and use physiological techniques.

Cheers

Bazz: Foxy, I get 4 or 5 of these "I am from Telstra---" calls a week.

Yep. Me too. I love them. I do like your, "I've checked all the Windows. " When they say I've got a Virus or a Bug I wait a few minutes, come back & say. "It's OK, thanks, I've just sprayed the computer with Bug Spray & they're all dead now." I've got a hundred of 'em. I love these people. Being "Old & Senile" like I am, it keeps me entertained.

Some times I ask them for their Mac Address. (They are supposed to be Technicians.) Most of them don't know what I'm talking about. so I tell them to type 10.0.0.138 in the Address Bar at the top of the screen, then, Press [Enter] go to such & such a page & the Mac address will come up. They say, "why should I do that." I say, "it's so I can see where you are calling from & the address of your business & your phone number." "CLICK"

Ok. What to do to stay safe. First of all get a reliable Security Programme. MacAfee's or Norton's. Use it. Get yourself a Second Drive. A big one, if you have a lot of stuff that you refer to often. That's what I do. That's where you put all your personal Files.

Never keep any of your personal Files on the C Drive. Your C Drive only need only to be small. A 250 gigabyte SST is great & fast. This is for your, "Operating System, Windows 10, Security, Word, Photoshop, etc." only.

The separate internal Drive, D Drive, should be large. a 3.5", 1 Terabyte, Western Digital, or such. This is where you can store your personal information & other Files, Like Photos or particular interesting answer on OLO or Forum that you can refer too later. ;-) if you need too.

Cont.
Then get an External Drive E Drive, about 2.5" 500 Gigabytes. Use this as your Backup & Recover Drive, only.

Hard Drives aren't dear now-a-days. Get some school kids or your Grand kids to set it all up, if you don't know how to do it.

The only time you are safe with getting help from your Telco is WHEN YOU CALL THEM. Your Telco will never call you, ever.

& don't be so bloody stupid in future. Grrrrr...

Bazz and Jayb.,

Thank you both.

You've been a big help.

I appreciate it greatly.

Just hanging up is the simplest way. You are not going to gain anything by wasting time on them.

ttbn, you are right of course but i just like the revenge for having to answer their calls.

Jayb Not many cheaper computers have two drives.

I would doubt Foxy has a computer with two drives.

Foxy Press (the windows key) + the letter (E) you now have windows explorer.

How many little icons do you have?

Local Disc (C)__ Local Disc (D)___ Local Disc (E)

They are partitions not drives, unless there is one only.

Keep files on D or another not C and as Jayb says a small backup drive is most important

Hi Philip S.,

My IT expert has just left and everything's
working fine. I've learned a good lesson
from all of this on what not to do.
Thank You for your contributions
and advice. I will take it all on board.
My computer has Windows 10 .

For me this discussion has now run its course.
I hope that my experience will help others
on the forum to be a bit more cautious when
they get unsolicited phone calls. As ttbn advises -
just hang up. Which is what I intend to do from now
on.

Once again - Thanks to you all.

Philip S: Jayb Not many cheaper computers have two drives.

No, but it's so easy to put one in.

Turn the computer off, take the plug out of the back. Get your book & look at the mother board diagram.
Buy the drive. It comes with the cable.
Open the computer. Four screws at the back & take the panels off.
pull on of the spare drive faces off & slide the drive in. Fix it in with the four little screws. Put the Face plate back.
Connect the Power cable, then connect the drive cable usually red but can be black or blue to the drive the other end goes to the same place the other two cables go to. You'll see it.
Put the Panels back on the sides screw it back up.
Plug the computer back in & turn it on. the Computer will instantly recognize you have a new drive. You may have to format it, but most drives come formatted now-a-days.
That's it you are all set up & ready to go.

Actually I never owned a propriety Computer. I've always built my own since about 94. that way I'm about two years ahead & about $1500 better off than buying one off the shelf.

My first was a C64, of course, then an XT I built with a whopping 20 megabyte drive. then a 120 Megabyte drive, then a 286, then a 486 with a 500 Megabyte Drive & onto a 1 Gigabyte Drive. WOW! Now an old out of Date H81 motherboard with a 256Gb SST, 1 Tb WD, Internals, 500Gb External & 16 Gb of 3 Mem. It was a M97 but it stopped working just before Xmas. Just for the Compophiles on here.

Cont.
I'm waiting for the new Intel CPU due out in a month or two & probably go to 32 Gb of 4. Memory. I don't play games. I'm totally useless at them. but I do put my old home movies & travels on DVD & that sort of thing. One has to do something in Retirement.

Oh, I just brought myself an AC/DC TIG Welder to do some Aluminum Welding Projects I been putting off for a couple of years. I love Xmas.

Sounds like you are buying yourself some nice Christmas present.

It is better to have a portable external drive for backup than use a 2nd drive built into a computer, that way you can hide it in case main computer is stolen.

Philip S: It is better to have a portable external drive for backup than use a 2nd drive built into a computer.

Yes a 1 Tig external D Drive is a good idea as well as an external E Drive for Backups if you are worried about going into the insides. Just keep the C Drive for the OS & Programmes. That way if there is ever a problem you just reformat & reinstall. Your Files are never affected.

Actually, I think I'll be doing that on my next rebuild.

As a mac user I'm rather disappointed that from now on we can't change a laptop configuration anymore. What you buy is what you're stuck with, no upgrading or changing.

Just deleted a scam, be warned it is an every day thing!
Posing as the ANZ bank international money changing site it is a fraud
It came with another, offer to change my money both are frauds
reported both but it is hard for authority's to track
be careful

individual Very few laptops can be modified easily because of there physical size which also means lack of expansion slots if any as well as power supply requirements, bigger hard drive or overclocking are usually all you can do with them.

Before you buy a computer work out exactly what you want to do with it and for what purpose you want it.

Indi: As a mac user I'm rather disappointed that from now on we can't change a laptop configuration anymore. What you buy is what you're stuck with, no upgrading or changing.

That's why I stayed away from Mac's from the start. Every time you had to upgrade your Mac you had to buy all new programmes as well.

Nah, went strait to intel & stayed there. I find Mac's very complicated to use.

Jayb,

My youngest son, who is an IT wizard, gave me a Mac laptop as a present a few years ago, I passed it on to the wife after giving it a fair trial; I found the thing irritating to use, especially as I could not convert it to a Dvorak keyboard except by sticking paper overlays on the keys.

Try Linux, you do not have to buy any software including
the operating system. I changed when XP became obsolete.
I do not worry about virus scanners etc etc either.
Never had a problem like that. There is a scanner that
fires up every now and then but never reports anything.

Anyway, you can dual boot it so you leave your existing windows
intact and on switchon you choose which you want to use.
I did that for a few years, until I found I never used windows anymore.

Problem with linux is it does not support a lot of programs.

Philip said;
Problem with linux is it does not support a lot of programs.

That is true, but I have always found an alternative.
Common programs like Office Suites, Browsers, email etc are all
available, eg Firefox, Thunderbird email, spreadsheets (Calc)
Presentation (Power Point)are all compatible with each other.
For example I can save Calc spread sheets in all formats from the
earliest Windows formats to the latest Windows formats.
I send Calc spreadsheets to my son who has Apple computers.
That is not to say that some equipment manufacturers only produce
programs for Windows. TYT the Chinese radio manufacturer is one that
comes to mind, but someone will write a program for that radio.
I keep an old laptop for that radio.

What you said is correct but in practise it is not a problem.
BTW I have heard that you have to rent the Windows 10 office suite
every year, is that correct ?

Bazz,
i'm totally ignorant on how computers work. What computer do you need to run Linux ?
can a mac be converted ? or is all windows based ?

Bazz Not sure about renting windows 10 office suite.

The big problem now all computers being made now will not be able to properly operate on anything but windows 10 because you can't get drivers for hardware etc. Except Mac but they will possibly follow suit.

People are being forced into windows 10 by the computer manufacturers, I would put any money on collusion between microsoft and makes.

What will happen when they get a monopoly?

I posted an article about windows 10 in the future needing a phone number, think about that one.

Now it can be hard for governments to absolutely link a computer to an actual person if you have to register with a phone number, they know almost exactly where you are if your phone is turned on and with some phones even if is turned off.

Use a burner phone number won't take long to know you have done it and I will bet microsoft will have a way to disable your operating system until you provide another number.

Bazz: I have heard that you have to rent the Windows 10 office suite
every year, is that correct ?

No, not entirely correct. That's what Microsoft want you to do & put everything on Cloud. Not that I have anything to hide, but, if "They" want to know what you are on about, what better place to look.

You can buy Office 16, it has everything you need & more. Actually I only use Word. I have no need for Access, Excel, Outlook, One Note, Cloud or any other of the Programmes that come with it, especially the 3D. Grrrr…!

The first time Paint 3D came down it was in Chinese. When I tried to change it to English & my whole b(00@y Computer changed to Chinese script. Don't laugh, it wasn't funny. A nice Microsoft guy changed it all back for me. Thank Gawd. I did have a time explaining to him why I didn't want in Chinese though. ;-) Grrr…! again. We actually had to change it all in the Registry. Luckily I am familiar with using the Registry. It helps if there is a programme that won't uninstall.

Roxio comes with everything I want, in that way. MS Publisher 2007 is OK, just. I used to use Micrographx Suite . It was just the tops, but it's not compatible with Win 10. It harks back to Win 95 days. It still can't be beat, even by Adobe.

Indi: What computer do you need to run Linux ?

Intel, or Clone.

Indi: can a mac be converted ?

No.

Indi: or is all windows based ?

No, there are a hundreds of varieties of Operating Systems Programmes. Windows is just one. Linux is another of which there are a variety of Linux based OS's. MS-DOS, FreeBSD, Chrome OS & Android.

These are not to be confused with Mainframe Computers which use a completely different Chip & Operating System as well. ig; Unix, Next, IBM, Lynx, Wang & DOS360 & hundreds more. These are used by University Research Programmes.

I've just learnt something. Go to Desktop, create a new folder, rename it. [ Godmode. {ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C} ] This brings all your Win 10 Administrative Programmes into alphabetical order in one File Folder onto your Desktop. Whoo-hoo…! No more flipping through different places.

They say a day you don't learn something is a day wasted. To-days not been wasted.

Working backwards,
JayBHa God Mode, how typical.
Keep that up and it will look like linux.

JayB, you might know, does the free office suite Libertywrite or
something like that, still work/available on Win10 ?

Philip said;
anything but windows 10 because you can't get drivers for hardware etc.
Are you saying Win10 comes with all drivers built in ?
Normally the equipment manufacturers are responsible for writing drivers.
Re the phone number, surely that would be an invasion of privacy ?

Individual;
Almost any PC or Laptop. As JayB said, any Intel based or AMD
processor (CPU) and it comes in 32 bit and 64 bit versions.
You can obtain discs from Linux magazines.
I use Kubuntu distribution. They have a good website from which you
can get and install new programs. Debian is one I have used for
many years and Kubuntu and others are Debian based.
The news agents normally have learner books for Linux.
You can put the CD in your CD drive and load it as a "Live" cd and
run it without installing it as it will give you a feel for Linux.
It does not change your hard drive.
Ask again if you want more info.

As I said earlier you can dual boot your computer.
When you select to install Linux it will ask if you want to dual boot
and if you answer Yes it will ask about partitioning.
That means how it leaves your windows intact with work space and
allocates space for Linux. It then goes ahead and installs Linux on
the rest of the hard drive. When you have done this every time you
switch the computer on it will ask you if you want Windows or Linux.
But buy a book and check it has info n dual boot.
Of course if have a second computer that is a better solution.

Just got woke up out of my Nanny nap. Not Happy Jan!

Two Scam calls to day.

First one. My computer has a virus.

oh! it does? Should I take it to the Doctor or will it be better in a week? Viruses only last about a week.

Insistent caller. He tells me I have to go to something & type in something.

Why?

You have a virus.

Will it get better?

Please go to something & type in something & I will fix it for you.
Oh, I don't know how to do that, my Son does all that sort of thing. I don't know anything about Computers, you know. Do you want to speak to him?

Yes, put him on.

Ok, when he comes to visit me next week I'll get him to talk to you. It might be OK by them. Viruses usually only last a week you know.

Are you married?

Yes.

Have you got any children?

yes.

It's nice to have children.

yes.

Have you got any grandchildren.

No.

Grand-children are nice, you know. If they visit you. Mine don't very much. I'm in a home you know.

(CLICK)

Second one. Hello this is Telstra calling. I'm am here to tell you that I am about to stop your Internet access.

Oh, good. I was going to call you about that. I have to stop it because I'll am going to die tomorrow the Doctor said & I....

(CLICK)

Gees, I'm a B@#$t&d. ;-)

jayb I suspect you get the same joy as I do in knowing it is a scam
Some times greed take over and people get caught out
We can never warn enough as after all some fall for it every day
So this thread has value Foxy
Please be careful of the love scams they take millions every year
I will continue to question the parents of fraudsters

Belly: Please be careful of the love scams they take millions every year

Aah yes. Love scams.

Hello John, Do you want to have some fun tonight.
John, my parents are away. Do you want some fun.
John, I need you tonight.
I'm hot for you, I need a lover.
Other girls have told me about how hot you are & I want to see for myself.

Delete. After I show my wife what a great stud she's missing out on. ;-)

Bazz The driver that are required for what is already on the computer.

Re the phone number, surely that would be an invasion of privacy ?

Since when do big companies care about that.

I tried to open a new hotmail address it would only let me if I gave them a phone number, guess what I did not open?

Well folks I'm still having computer problems.

I can't access the internet or my email.

The lights go red most of the time and when I try
to click onto the net - the message comes up
"no internet access."

Then it tells me to "change settings, such as making a
correction metered." Whatever that means.

The lights stay red for most of the day.

I'll be ringing Telstra today.

maybe the heat Foxy had the same trouble here twice last week it was the heat
use Optus wireless[NBN]

Firststep, talk to your Internet Service Provider (ISP).
Which you are doing.
Telstra may well ask you to do something like your Indian friend got
you to do so they can look at how your modem is setup.
When I had intermittent trouble like you they, Telstra, found it was
the setup in the local exchange.
Here's a thought, was your area blacked out last Friday ? Has it only
been intermittent since Friday ?
In my case there had been major work in the exchange and the Telstra
equipment was reset to default values. Because I am well over 2km from
the exchange my ADSL2 line needed "tuning" so to speak.
When they fix it, ask for some detail about what was wrong.
If it happens again, repeat that detail back to them and it might
save some time,
In my case it was the exchange modems paramaters that they changed.
They, the tech on the phone can do it remotely.

Have fun !

Well, now I'm well and truly back and everything
has been fixed - thanks to Telstra.

I finally ended up calling Telstra and telling
them that I could not access either the internet
or my emails. They sent out a field technician.
He was here for about two hours testing everything.
Finally he found that we had corroded connections
at the street junction leading to the house.
He replaced the main telephone point in the house
and ran a new line to the computer. It was part
of the Telstra maintenance service - and everything is
now working. I couldn't be happier.

Dear Bazz,

Thanks for your advice.

It got me good results.